RISE ICT stories: Revolutionary Moisture Measuring Tool

Invisense is a spin-off company of RISE Acreo and Printed Electronics Arena (PEA), which has developed a concept for a humidity sensor based on printed electronics. The aim is to develop modern sensor technology for measuring moisture in buildings and to take the product to market.

Every year, about 750,000 buildings in Sweden are damaged by water. The annual cost of this damage is estimated at 5.1 billion SEK. This loss could be substantially reduced if problems were detected earlier. The Invisense sensor measures moisture behind the most common building materials, such as plasterboard, fiberboard, and concrete. The sensor is very inexpensive to manufacture, and very thin, allowing it to be easily be incorporated into construction.

Through a competitive process, Invisense was selected to receive a SEK 500,000 grant for a feasibility study from the VINNOVA program Research & Grow 2014. The goal of the study is to further develop the moisture sensor and take it to market.

“Receiving these funds supports the conclusions we have drawn from our market validation. There is an obvious industry demand, and this technology could contribute to solving a huge problem in today’s society,” says Anders Friberg, one of the entrepreneurs.

Invisense is a wholly-owned subsidiary of RISE Acreo. The company is part of the Business Incubator Lead - recently named Sweden's best by Almi. The feasibility study will run from November 2014 through to June 2015.

“This project is a great opportunity to build a Swedish operation, based on Swedish research, which can expand to several international markets. If this project can contribute to creating a profitable business with employment opportunities, and at the same time benefit the public through healthier indoor environments, we will be very proud,” says Anders Friberg.

The sensor is based on research from Linköping University and concept development at Acreo and PEA in collaboration with the construction company Peab.